The hospital has been hoping for certification since developers began drafting plans back in 2003, the story stated.

Some of the major steps taken to achieve certification include: Recycling 92 percent of construction waste, using special paints emitting low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and installing motion sensors on lights, the story noted.

Brian Ott, Principal with the hospital’s Austin-based developer TBG Partners, said: "The ‘Greed Guide for Health Care’ wasn’t written at the time, so we had to apply a lot of the original version of the LEED guide to the project. It was hard to apply some of those systems to the hospital."

Though the costs involved in building to reach Platinum certification are dropping, LEED certification development can increase expenses by up to six percent, the story added.